


Backfired

by Torn_Pride_Flag



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Amestris, Central City, Edward Elric Swears, Gen, Homunculi, Possession, Pride AU, SPOILER WARNING FOR FMAB, Shit goes down, Swearing, The Promised Day, Xerxes | Cselkcess, i guess, like a lot, military gets involved, more specifically the pride au no one asked for, philosophers stones, rip xerxes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-09-17 05:01:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16968156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Torn_Pride_Flag/pseuds/Torn_Pride_Flag
Summary: From the second he clapped his hands, Edward Elric was doomed.(̞͒Ị͖ ̥͕̊ͬa̋̀m̠̂ ̴͍̳̙̇̔͆aͫͥͪ ̫̙p̝̬̼ͭͧͤh̼̊i̫̦͂̔l̆͂ͫõ͍̟̊s̴̍̑o͉͉̓͒̃ͅpͪͮhͯͦ͒e̩̪ͦ̊̆ͅṟ̵̏’͔̝s̡̠ st̿̏ö̙̬ͥne ̖̥ͣ̐p͗͛̏o͍ͨw̼̱ͫͤe̟ͣ͐ͅr̞̍e̒̋͐d͙͕ͩ͆ ̙̦̑̒ḃ̴͈̠̇y̹͒ ̱̳aͮ͑ s̮̈́i͐͌͆n̛ǵ͕̰l̨̮̒ę̼͈ͪ̓ ̪̱̒̑souͅl̛)͈ͥ́***SPOILER WARNING FOR ENDING OF FMA:B***





	1. Chapter 1

“We’re virtually brothers.” Pride had said moments before. ‘Yeah, right,’ Ed had thought once the pain had faded, ’As if you’re even in the same league as Alphonse,’

“Which means, Edward Elric, I can use your container. Your body belongs to me!” That’s when the alarm bells started ringing the loudest. Ed couldn’t afford to mess up here. Pride is one thing on his own, but Pride using his body? That’s gross and incredibly dangerous. He could kill Al. He could kill Winry. He could kill anyone close to Ed. 

When Pride gasped in pain, talking out loud to Kimblee(‘how was he in there?’), the cogs in Ed’s head began to turn. He was hurt, pinned down, but he could still think. He had options, or one option. His only other choice would be to give up, and that’s not what he’d consider an option. So he had to defeat Pride, or at least escape. If Pride was weakened, he might not risk going head to head with one of the alchemists in this room. But that’s a huge risk. Pride has intentionally singled Ed out, and has him too close. Pride’s taking a huge risk, keeping the youngest State Alchemist in history at his feet,

Assuming that he’d just sit there and take it. 

He’s in pain, sure, but he’ll pay Pride back in spades. 

“You are one soul in an ocean of agony! You can’t stop me from doing what I please, Kimblee. I am stronger than you, I am a homunculus!” Pride shrieks, throwing Ed into a piece of rubble. 

“And I do not need permission to help myself to what I desire.” He hisses between ragged breaths. Pure dread keeps Ed rooted to the spot on the floor where he landed. 

_(Not yet, not yet, not yet not yet notyet-)_

Pride turns to look at Edward, hand falling to once again reveal the gaping hole in his face- His container, it’s not the face of a real person. 

_(MOVE)_

There’s a beat, then Ed is on his feet, ripping Pride’s hands from his body and sprinting towards the homunculus. He claps his hand, the plan in his head now being set in stone. He’s sure. He grabs Pride’s face with his automail arm as blue electricity sparks in the air. Neither of them flinches at the sudden light, it illuminates the entire area around them. But the two are too focused to care. 

Pride’s short, childlike arms flail to try and grab Edward, but the moment has passed. Ed has Pride right where he wants him. 

“He’s going to kill me!” Pride cries. Ed, who can barely hear Pride over his own screaming, has no idea who he’s talking to. 

Ed’s vision blacks out for a moment, before a sea of red things fill it, spreading from the centre of his vision outwards and swallowing him whole. He can sense Pride, vulnerable and dying, just ahead of him. A wall of souls blocks his way, but he’s come too far to be beaten by things clinging to their last words. 

_(They’re not people, they’re energy now.)_

Pride can’t be allowed to live any longer. Ed has too much to protect, and he sure as hell won’t be beaten by such an overconfident, bratty homunculus that thinks he can do whatever he wants. 

So the second he sees an opening in the wall, Edward dives at it and bursts through. 

_(I am a philosophers stone, powered by a single soul!)_

There is a sound similar to the howling of the wind. Ed sees Kimblee’s face among the shrieking red blobs. Pride is dead ahead. Ed lunges. 

Pride smiles and a chill runs down Edward’s spine. 

“You’re in my container; My domain. Thank you, human.” 

Pain.

PAin.

PAIn.

PAIN.

P A I N .

P ̢̞̂A I̧̘̱ ̀N.

P͍̱̝͉͍ ͑ͭ̉̇A͐̽ͨͩ ̋͝ͅI̗ͥ ̵̓N̛̘.

P̾̇ͭ̎͐ͦͮ̑͆̒̓ͯ̃͑̚͘ ͟Aͫ͛̌̌ ͓̠̺͍͇̭̲̠̝̩̲͂ͨ͑ͮ̊̏̾̓ͣ̔̓I̫ ̾ͨͭ͋͗ͤͬ̚͜͝Nͫͨͣ́̌͆ͦͦͫ̆̓͐̈ .

 

\- - - - - -

Ed continued to scream for a good few minutes, every cell in his body absorbing the energy of Pride’s philosophers stone, containing his plus Gluttony’s energy. Ed thought he was going to die, that his body would give up. It was too much. Even though he had so much left to do, so much left to learn and see, he might just have to leave Al-

Alphonse. No, of course, he can’t leave. But… This pain is so much worse than when he was impaled in the North. That was focused around one point. This agony, it felt like he was being burned alive. Or like every cell was deconstructing and reconstructing itself at the same time. All Edward is capable of is to thrash around and scream in agony. He can’t focus on the noises of those around him, nor hear their footsteps as they run over to him. There is only him and Pride’s stone. 

_(Has a human ever survived forcing a homunculus out of their body? Pride has no container left to return to-)_

“Brother!!” 

“Fullmetal, what’s wrong?” 

“What did Selim do to you?” 

_(-if you think about it, that really could kill him)_

Tens of thousands of souls were fighting. It was a free for all in Edward’s body. Edward was preoccupied with staying in control. He would never forgive himself if Pride took over his body. His gasps for breath between shrieks of pain became more frequent. 

“Brother what did he do to you-“ 

“Fullmetal say something!!” 

“Edward get a hold of yourself!”

_(I can’t die. I don’t want to die. I’m not done yet.)_

“Dad, help us! What’s going on?” 

It’s like Greed, Ed realises. Pride is going to turn Ed into a human-based homunculus. He can either reject the stone or accept it. Rejecting the stone would kill him, but Ling can still hijack his body when Greed is vulnerable or off guard. But is he accepts the stone and never returns to the surface…

_(Homunculi are powered by philosophers stones containing many thousands of souls.)_

“How do we stop it?” 

_(Although, stones only containing a couple dozen souls or fewer exist.)_

“Fullmetal stop it for fuck’s sake! Breathe! You’re going to pass out.” 

_(I will become the smallest philosophers stone in existence.)_

“Hohenheim- How do we help him?” 

There’s a clank of metal on metal. Ed can’t stop himself at this point. He wants to tell Al he didn’t mean to hit him, but can’t. There’s too much going on inside his head. ‘Make it stop, make it stop,’ Edward thinks. 

“Get it off him!” 

“Oh my God! Oh my God, brother I-” 

“Al, calm down, we don’t need both of you freaking out.”

“What’s going on? Someone tell me.” 

_(I can control it. I can control it)_

“Brother?” 

“What’s he doing now?”

“He’s slowing down, give him a minute.” 

_(I am a philosopher’s stone powered by a single soul!)_

Edward finally stops moving and gasps for air. If it weren’t for the fact he has pinned down by three other people, he’d have sat upright immediately. Looking straight up, he sees Alphonse’s armour staring back. He must have beaten Pride. His hands feel coated in some dust-like substance.

“A-Al, what- where? Pride! Where’s that brat-“ 

“Edward, calm down. Breathe for a minute. There’s something we need to tell you.”

\- - - - - - - - - - -

They let him sit and calm down for a few minutes, telling him little to nothing. Hohenheim and Greed were fighting Father, and most of the forces still in Central. He was being kept busy but was in no way losing. 

“When we asked him what to do about you screaming he just said to.. let it happen,” Izumi explained nervously, ”There was nothing we could do. I’m sorry.” 

“He didn’t- I’m still human though, right?” Ed asked slowly. He was still processing that he survived that. 

“I don’t know what to tell you.” Izumi continues, ”But you can look for yourself if you promise that you won’t faint or freak out.” Ed hesitantly nods. Izumi helps lean Ed against Mustang. 

He watches as Al slowly moves towards his legs and takes the shoe off his left foot, he rolls the trouser leg up for good measure. 

It’s skin, flesh and bone instead of metal and wires. Ed panics for a moment. 

“I might not be able to keep that promise, teacher,” Ed mutters miserably. He looks to his right only to see his arm has regenerated as well, the automail port and other equipment forced out of his body by the new organic material that took its place. 

“I’m sorry, brother. I’m so sorry I didn’t stop him.” Alphonse whispered. He refused to look his brother in the eye, and had done for the past few minutes. 

“You were screaming and crying in pain, begging someone to make it stop,” Mustang explained calmly. Ed wanted to knock him the fuck out for seeming so above this all. “It was all we could do to stop you thrashing around and hurting yourself more.” 

“Yeah well that wouldn’t have fucking mattered, would it? My arm and my leg are back and it’s not down to you now to decide what’ll help me or not because you’re fucking useless! You don’t know shit, Roy!” Ed yelled, pulling at his own hair sharply. Alphonse reached out and tried to stop him. 

“Don’t bother Al, it’ll grow back. Everything will now, won’t it?” Ed growled. Alphonse took a step back. 

Edward glanced up at the gigantic hole in the ceiling. 

“If that Father bastard is still alive and kicking up there I’m going to be so pissed. I’ll stop him myself if I have to.” Ed snapped as he clapped his hands, then paused. The ground below him began to move and form below his feet without touching it. 

“Stop fucking using that energy, I don’t want any part in this,” Edward begged quietly as he pressed his hands to the ground and used the existing stone. No one saw the tears on his face as he emerged from the hole, only to get hurt with a blast from Father, getting thrown back a fair few metres. 

The dust began to clear, Father obviously didn’t know who was there. He’d say something if his eldest creation(“child”) was suddenly using the body of a human, or if it had happened to be absorbed by one. 

“Hey, Dwarf! That’s what Hohenheim called you, right? Come over here and look at what your bratty little Pride did to himself!” Edward roared as his body forced the debris and rebar out of itself to heal. Father looked right at Ed as he yanked rebar out of his arm and waited for Father’s response. 

“You… Pride, you fool.” Father snarled. Edward smirked and showed the Ouroboros mark that appeared on his shoulder. His left shoulder. 

“Good luck getting through to him. He tried to absorb me so naturally, I figured out a way to absorb him right back. The human brain is an incredible thing. If it can convince itself it’s a philosopher stone then it can act like one. It’s almost like they’re similar, y’know? Can’t think why. I'm sure you'd know the answer. Anyway, back to the homunculus, Pride. He’s dead, Dwarf, and I killed him.” 

Father howled and charged at Edward. 

“Those souls do not belong to you, sacrifice, give them back! Give me back my energy!” 

“They’re not exactly yours either, asshole. You stole them from the people of Xerxes!” 

“Give them to me!” Father was getting too close. Edward felt the same pure fear he had with Pride. 

_(Gotta move or he’ll kill me without hesitation)_

“Back off!” Edward snapped, sidestepping the enraged (other) homunculus. While he had his back to the alchemist, Edward clapped his hands and transmuted a spike. Father took the hit dead on. 

_(Bastard.)_

“They are rightfully mine, they have been for centuries!” Father screeched. Ed flipped him off with his new right hand. 

“You can fuck off if you think I’ll have anything to do with your cause!” 

Ed and Father stand facing one another. They exchange a look of pure hatred as the others look on from the sidelines. Time feels like it’s paused for a brief moment before being set into motion. They break into runs.


	2. Chapter 2

Ed lost count of how many times he was hit. Father barely even moved, and Ed’s stubborn refusal to use his stone might eventually be his downfall. 

_(It’s not my energy to use. It’s not mine. I could’ve fought him without it.)_

The two critical injuries he got would’ve said otherwise. 

Father sighs as Ed’s alchemy is blocked by his own transmutation once again. He turns and slowly walks back towards a figure crouched among the rubble. There’s black and white, small trails of red… 

“Teacher!” Ed shouts once he recognises her. Father stops just short of where she is and raises his hand. Red lightning begins to crackle and Izumi’s hands fly to her throat. She looks like, no, she can’t breathe. What the- 

“What the fuck are you doing you scumbag!” Edward screams as he charges, a spear aimed at the back of Father’s head. He takes no damage, as per usual, but he’s distracted. His alchemical “shield” is still active. Small things being deconstructed, causing red ripples in the air. He’s not looking at Edward. 

There’s the sound of guns firing, explosions erupting from the sidelines. 

“Fire at the one without automail!” 

“Sir, neither of them have automail.” 

“Who the hell is the other guy then? He’s dressed like Fullmetal, who the hell is he?“

“Sir, who should we aim for?” 

“Stop it!.” Alphonse shrieked in the background, “That’s my brother in there, you better have an idea what you’re doing!” 

Edward feels his blood just about to boil. 

_(You’re telling me this bunch of idiots really protect central? It’s no wonder Grumman’s plans worked.)_

“You’ve gotta be kidding me! I’m the Fullmetal Alchemist! This weirdo and his friends did something to me.” It technically wasn’t lying. Edward ran straight at him, transmuting pillars to trap Father with a mere brush of his fingertips against the ground. 

“F-fire at the half-naked one, then!” The man ordered. 

“I need backup here you lazy fucks!” Ed yelled. He was vaguely aware of shouting, a man’s voice. It sounded urgent… It could wait. 

Ed hurriedly transmutes yet another row of spikes to kill Father yet again. And again. And again. Ed must have killed him about 7 times by now but he just keeps getting up. Ed should be almost exhausted by now, but he’s not. Now that he’s a couple minutes in, and getting over his instincts to flinch and run. Ed keeps getting more pissed off than anything. Father won’t stop. A few stray bullets hit Ed, and they hurt like a bitch.

_(Is that Al’s voice?)_

If Father has blocked dozens, maybe hundreds of these then how does he still have enough energy in his stone? He’s- He’s back to square 1 how can he do this? 

_(It’s not enough, it’ll never be enough.)_

“Stay down, you fuckin’ relic!” Edward roars as he uses a spear to take out Father’s legs. Gunshots sounded nearby. This wasn’t the first time, but it still hurt Ed’s ears. It was annoying, but he supposed it was working to use up Father’s stone. Bullet wounds were a bitch, after all. Greed shouted something in the background. 

Father began to run again. The air around him combusted a safe distance away from Ed. He stumbled back in shock anyway. He looked to the source to see Mustang, arm held out in front of him ready to snap again. Rita stood next to him, one hand on his shoulder. Her mouth was moving but Ed was too far away to hear.

Bang. A grunt from Father. Clap. Another grunt. The crackle of electricity. Stone crumbling in the distance. Mustang snapping his finger. Shrieks of fear from the sidelines. 

“Isn’t the symphony of battle amazing, Fullmetal?” A familiar voice asks ominously. Ed freezes and looks around suddenly. 

“I- You’re alive? Kimblee what and how the fuck!-“ Ed stutters in shock. Hohenheim, the bastard, blocks an attack from Father for Ed. It was meant to hit him, he’s getting too distracted. 

“You remember me? How have the mines treated you?” Kimblee purrs. 

“Oh fuck off you psycho. Pride didn’t seem too happy with you earlier. I can see why.” Ed hisses as he glares at Hohenheim and begins to transmute the ground beneath him again. 

“All this power and you’re still following the rules?” Kimblee tutted, ”Why aren’t you using us, Edward? We could help you kill him. We gave you your limbs back, didn’t we?” 

“I didn’t ask for your help!” Ed snapped as he sidestepped Father, slamming another stone wall into him. The crackle of Father’s stone using more soul energy was all that could be heard. Edward quickly retreated cautiously. 

Father slowly got to his feet and shuddered. He stumbled towards Edward. 

“Give me Pride’s stone you insolent child! The souls! Give them back!” 

“He’s being so fucking greedy, isn’t he? I thought I was the culmination of his greed but apparently not. Maybe I should change my name.” Greed landed next to Edward a little over dramatically. Ed rolled his eyes, ”So how long until that little brat comes back?” 

“Never, probably. I’ll explain after this is over.” Ed said dismissively. He glanced down at his right arm and cursed. He smacks both palms to the floor and moves the ground beneath Father, causing him to lose his balance. Hohenheim and Izumi both rush to hit him with alchemy while he’s down. 

“Well, would you look at that? 2 minutes into being a homunculus and you’re the embodiment of Pride! And you’re not even the homunculus, dumbass.” Greed teases, blocking Ed’s view of the fight. Ed ducks to see past Greed’s dumb face but Ling’s ponytail is still blocking him. Ed stands back up, thoroughly pissed off.

“I’ll. Explain. Later.” Edward couldn’t resist hitting Greed over the back of the head. Asshole deserved it. “In case you didn’t notice this isn’t the fucking time.” 

The ground underneath Edward and Greed shook this time, causing the two to stumble. Father was moving again, towards the two. 

“Is he usually this infuriating?” Ed mutters to Greed. Greed shrugs, 

“I don’t care. I want his philosophers stone- hey, don’t give me that look. I’m Greed, for fuck’s sake. It’s my instinct to want everything. At least I’ll be ruling the world with that power instead of destroying it.” Edward sighed and rolled his eyes.

“If you’re gonna go beat him go do it already before he blows up all of HQ with us in it!” Ed snapped as Greed took off towards Father. 

_(It won’t be enough. It will never be enough-)_

“I’m backing you up, don’t bitch about it!” Ed shouted as he transmuted a weapon and followed. 

He was only feet away when Father turned sharply and punched Greed in the gut. Greed wasn’t thrown back onto the ground. He stayed where he was, mid-jump, a metre off the ground. He grunted in pain as Father began to monologue triumphantly about how he was Greed’s Father, and how helpful Greed was to his cause. 

“Excellent.” Father hummed as Greed shouted at someone else. Obviously Ling. Guess he doesn’t want to homunculus to go. 

Even from that distance, Ed felt his heart drop as Father’s veins glowed a bright, brilliant red. Greed’s Philosophers stone. 

“Oh, so they can do that? Just think of it as another reason to not get in close.” Kimblee’s voice said dismissively. 

There’s screaming, a horrific blend of both Ling and Greed’s voices screeching in pain. Then it suddenly cuts out. Ed watches as Lan Fan severs Father’s arm, separating him and Ling. 

_(Thank God.)_

Ling stumbled backwards as Father began to seem uncomfortable. Everyone’s eyes trailed down to Father’s arm, which refused to heal. Father began to sound like he was in pain, gasping and groaning. 

“You insolent child! Greed! How could you- How dare you do this to your very own father? How dare you defy me like this!” Edward watched as Father’s legs began to turn to charcoal. Of course, Greed manipulated the carbon in his body for his ultimate shield. Guess it only makes sense he could do this, too. 

“Begone, Greed! You no longer have a purpose!” Father shouted before reaching into his own mouth and pulling out a red-tinted, smoky entity. Greed’s true form? 

The crowd of people present stared, some in horror and some in confusion, as the smoke like creature floated for a moment. It said a few words before it faded. Ling shouted for Greed as the smoke dissipated.

_(Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry-)_

Greed may not have been the best person, but he was certainly the most human of the homunculi. Of course he was. Greed. The most common sin among humans, according to some. 

_(Damn it, nows not the time to get all philosophical.)_

Everything was suspiciously still. After everyone began to understand what just happened, all eyes turned back to Father, whose fragile legs were rapidly crumbling beneath him. The dark-grey colour had spread to his abdomen, and in a fit of grief-induced rage, Ed had found himself positioned to strike it. 

It disintegrated beneath his thin, weak right hand. Ed was expecting a little more give, a little more fight. But there was nothing. Just an anticlimactic final blow, no grand amount of effort behind one big one-hit K.O.

Just a kid, slowly looking down to his ash-covered hand. 

“You- Your stone! Your alchemy! Undo this, Pride!” Father wheezed, swinging his feeble arms at Edward, who easily stepped out of range. There was a gaping hole in Father’s stomach

Edward looked at the dying homunculus with an unreadable expression on his face. Dark tendrils began to seep out of the hole in Father’s body, latching onto whatever they found. Fingers, strands of hair, wrapping around limbs. 

“Undo this!” Father hissed more desperately, his cheeks turning an ashy grey as his body decayed. He reached out one disintegrating hand towards Edward only to realise it had already dissipated into nothing. The expression on Ed’s face finally revealed itself to be sympathy. 

“Go back to where you were born. Go back to nothing, homunculus.” Ed spat. He doesn't even know why he feels so bad for this monster. 

Father looked stunned. A tiny, dark hand yanked at his hair, cutting off any enraged comments he would’ve made. Father finally realised that he was really done for, none of his homunculi children were coming to help him. He let out a pained howl as the hands dragged him into the nothingness of the gate, making his body collapse in on itself. The ground where he stood was scorched. 

Ed stared at the spot where Father was for an unnaturally long time. His brain was struggling to process that it was really over. By the time he was realising that it was all over, that he was finally free, Alphonse had caught up to him. 

“Brother! What’s wrong, do you feel ok?” 

“Al I- Oh God.” Edward covered his face with his hands, ”It’s over. It-it’s actually over. You’re not gonna turn into Envy or something, are you?”

“Of course not. Let’s get you inside.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I know this is pretty short, but we're getting to the good part now so it should be longer. Also, there was only one longer-than-average scene here, whereas there's going to be/there are more in other chapters.


End file.
